I'm not sure what to do. We've had this Zoo trip planned for a while but my daughter woke up at six this morning complaining of a sore throat and a runny nose. She just completed her first week of kindergarten after five years of only being around immediate family. She has no siblings and was never enrolled in day care or pre-school. I've been her primary caregiver. Her biggest exposure to germs has been the grocery store. I was sure she was going to be sick after starting school, but I didn't expect it to hit us so soon! (She's completely vaccinated for what it's worth.)
I'm disinclined to go, but the trip was planned around my daughter. All the adults in her life were going to watch her enjoy the zoo. If she doesn't go, I'm sure they would rather skip it. The zoo is in San Francisco. The invite list is as follows: me, my husband, my daughter, my mother, my father, my sister, my sister's best friend (and her infant) and my sister in law. Everyone is driving from an average of two hours away from various locations.
What should I do? Call everyone up and cancel the trip or bundle her up and tough it out? She doesn't have a fever at all. Just a sore throat and some boogers.
We decided to go ahead and go. She did very well and we made sure to keep her from touching anything communal. I packed her a lunch and carried it in my backpack along with hydration supplies. Since the zoo was in San Francisco it was pretty foggy and cold. Her nose dripped pretty bad but while her left hand was pointing in excitement at everything she saw, her right had a wad of tissue to dab any dribbles. When the tissue got too wet, she'd trade me for a fresh one. My sister and her friend, with infant in tow, showed up two hours late so the baby wasn't exposed very long, if at all. My daughter was more than three feet away from him at all times and never sneezed in his vicinity. Plus she was very good about sneezing into her wad of tissue. She pooped out about three hours into the trip so we cut it short and took her home.
Her sore throat went away after her hot shower this morning. It must have been sore from sleeping with her mouth open or something, due to congestion. She didn't have a fever all day today either, but twenty minutes ago I checked and she's up to 101.5 but not uncomfortable.
@Candice M. To add additional information for your statistical gatherings, she's only had a cold/flu about once a year since she's been born (so six total) and has never had a bacterial infection. She's never been on antibiotics so whenever someone asks me if she's allergic to any medications I have to answer, "we don't know yet because she's never used any". Of the six times she's been sick, the illnesses have always been pretty light in terms of length of illness as well as severity of fever/symptoms.
One of the biggest reasons I wrote in to get a pulse on what to do is because she's never complained of a sore throat before so I was out of my element. Small fevers (below 103.0) and lots of boogers are what I'm used to, with an occasional vomit thrown in for good measure. No fever but boogers and a sore throat had me confused.
The worst she has is a cold. There is no reason to cancel anything because of a cold, if anything movement causes the crud to break down and leave the nose making her feel better than if she laid around at home.
I would go. Many times a sore throat improves as the day progresses. If she has no fever, I would go for it.
Hi! My pediatrician used to tell us to go by how the child feels rather than their temperature. If she feels okay just give her some Tylenol for the sore throat and if she feels like going, go! Make sure she gets lots to drink through the day and keep dosing her with the Tylenol to keep the soreness away. Some hard candies won't hurt either. Have fun!
No reason to cancel so far.
Colds happen - it might get better or worse later on, but for right now head on out to the zoo.
Have her gargle with some salt water, rinse out her nose with a neti pot before you go.
Give her a nice steamy shower and some Tylenol, and make sure she gets plenty of fluids. It's a cold. If she has not had a chance to be exposed to germs and viruses in the past it is likely she will have lots now that she was in school. She will need to start building her immune system up through exposure.
I would go with how she feels. A sore throat and runny nose is no reason to keep her home from a trip unless you feel like she can't keep up. Lethargy, Tiredness, or her saying that she doesn't feel well enough to go would keep up home. She won't get sicker because she goes. The best thing you can do is support her immune system by encouraging her to drink a lot of water and eat plenty of calories. Unfortunately you are going to be dealing with ALOT of illnesses in the first year or two of school because her immune system will be catching up. Our Doctors always had us send out kids to preschool (now kindergarten) if there was no fever and the flow of mucus was slow enough for the child to be able to handle the wiping up and nose blowing by themselves. At a zoo out in the open the chance of spreading germs to her family is lower than at home or in a classroom.
If your daughter wants to go and seems physically up to it, then go.
Updated
If your daughter wants to go and seems physically up to it, then go.
I would say as long as she has no fever, then she should be just fine. Sore throats and runny noses happen. It's just a part of life. BTW, in my own personal research, (only since you mentioned it) I have found that vaccinated kids get sick a lot more than non vaccinated kids, but that's my own personal research and opinion. Not that is matters much right now, but I'm only saying because you said something about it.
I hope she feels better soon and if you don't already, I would give her daily vitamins and teach her good hand washing while at school.
My kids all have colds right now...and they are homeschooled. If she is fine other then a runny nose and a little sore throat we would head out and enjoy the zoo.
I wouldn't cancel for just a cold.
Nope, don't cancel. Get used to the sniffles and make her a tea of water, 1/2 squeezed lemon, 2 spoons of oregano, and a spoon of honey.
Boil water, put the oregano in the tea basket, add the the hot water and lemon to the tea steeper, and let it sit for 3 minutes. Add the tea to one spoon of honey in a cup and have her sip it. Do this for 3 nights and that junk should be gone. Get her started now.
A cold is one of the nastiest, but very manageable illness. I think keeping up the long planned family outing would be a lot of fun.
Keep your daughter well hydrated, and if she's having sore throat, carry some hot soup in a thermos maybe, for her to eat while outside. And make sure to to carry enough puff wipes. :)
And possibly a light sweater or hoodie (in case daughter feels a little chilly).
Hope you and family have a nice trip!
I would probably cancel. Sore throat & runny nose is not indicative of JUST a cold, it could be lots of other things. Plus, your child is not going to be feeling well, and I don't think she'd have much fun being lugged around a huge zoo all day in the sun. Not to mention, she could be contagious, and I don't think it's right going out around all of those people knowing that she could possibly get them sick (especially the infant).
Based on these other answers it's so easy to see why sickness spreads so fast.
